The doctrine of Lordship Salvation?
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· 12 viewsA brief explanation of the doctrine of Lordship.
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Introduction:
Introduction:
The doctrine of lordship salvation teaches that submitting to Christ as Lord goes together with trusting in Christ as Savior.
It is the opposite of what is sometimes called “easy-believism” or the teaching that salvation comes through an acknowledgement of a certain set of facts.
John MacArthur, in his book book “The Gospel According to Jesus” lays out the case for lordship salvation and summarizes the teaching this way: “The gospel call to faith presupposes that sinners must repent of their sin and yield to Christ’s authority.”
In other words, a sinner who refuses to repent is not saved, for he can’t cling to his sin and the Savior at the same time. And a sinner who rejects Christ’s authority in his life does not have saving faith, for true faith encompasses a surrender to
God.
Thus, the gospel requires more than making an intellectual decision or mouthing a prayer; the gospel message is a call to discipleship. The sheep will follow their Shepherd in submissive obedience.
Jesus’ repeated warnings to the religious hypocrites of His day serve as proof that simply agreeing to spiritual facts does not save a person.
There must be a heart change.
Jesus emphasized the high cost of discipleship:
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
In the same passage, Jesus speaks of counting the cost; elsewhere, He stresses total commitment:
62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Turn to Matthew 7
Turn to Matthew 7
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says that eternal life is a narrow path found by “only a few”
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
In contrast, easy-believism seeks to broaden the path so that anyone who has a profession of faith can enter.
Jesus says that “every good tree bears good fruit” (verse 17); in contrast, easy-believism says that a tree can still be good and bear nothing but bad fruit.
Jesus says that many who say “Lord, Lord” will not enter the kingdom (verses 21–23); in contrast, easy-believism teaches that saying “Lord, Lord” is good enough.
The doctrine of Lordship teaches that a true profession of faith will be backed up by evidence of faith. If a person is truly following the Lord, then he or she will obey the Lord’s instructions.
A person who is living in willful, unrepentant sin has obviously not chosen to follow Christ, because Christ calls us out of sin and into righteousness.
The Bible clearly teaches that faith in Christ will result in a changed life .
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God. 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
The doctrine of Lordship is not a salvation-by-works doctrine.
Salvation is by grace alone, believers are saved before their faith ever produces any good works, and Christians can and do sin.
However, true salvation will inevitably lead to a changed life. The saved will be dedicated to their Savior.
A true christian will not feel comfortable living in unconfessed, unforsaken sin.
There are nine teachings that set the doctrine of Lordship salvation apart from easy-believism:
1) Repentance is not a simple synonym for faith.
1) Repentance is not a simple synonym for faith.
Scripture teaches that sinners must exercise faith in conjunction with repentance.
38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
21 testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Repentance is a change of mind from embrace of sin and rejection of Christ to a rejection of sin and an embrace of Christ.
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
and even this is a gift of God
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
Genuine repentance, which comes when a person submits to the lordship of Christ, cannot help but result in a change of behavior.
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.
18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ 19 “Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
2) A Christian is a new creation and cannot just “stop believing” and lose salvation.
2) A Christian is a new creation and cannot just “stop believing” and lose salvation.
Faith itself is a gift of God
1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
and real faith endures forever.
6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
Salvation is all God’s work, not man’s. Those who believe in Christ as Lord are saved apart from any effort of their own.
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
3) The object of faith is Christ Himself, not a promise, a prayer, or a creed.
3) The object of faith is Christ Himself, not a promise, a prayer, or a creed.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Faith must involve a personal commitment to Christ
15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
It is more than being convinced of the truth of the gospel; it is a forsaking of this world and a following of the Master.
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
4) True faith always produces a changed life.
4) True faith always produces a changed life.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The inner person is transformed by the Holy Spirit and the Christian has new nature.
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Those with genuine faith—those who are submitted to the lordship of Christ are those who:
Follow Jesus John 10:27
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
Love their brothers
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
Obey God’s commandments
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
Do the will of God.
50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Abide in God’s Word.
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
Keep God’s Word.
6 “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Do good works.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Continue in the faith.
21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
Salvation is not adding Jesus to the pantheon of one’s idols; it is a wholesale destruction of the idols with Jesus reigning
supreme.
5) God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life.”
5) God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life.”
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
If God has given us these things, then it bares out we must live for him and he gives us the ability to do so.
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Salvation, then, is not just a ticket to heaven. It is the means by which we are sanctified (practically) in this life and by which we grow in grace.
6) Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord of all.
6) Scripture teaches that Jesus is Lord of all.
Christ demands unconditional surrender to His will.
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Those who live in rebellion to God’s will do not have eternal life,
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
7) Those who truly believe in Christ will love Him.
7) Those who truly believe in Christ will love Him.
8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
22 If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. O Lord, come!
And those we love we long to please.
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
8) Scripture teaches that behavior is an important test of faith.
8) Scripture teaches that behavior is an important test of faith.
Obedience is evidence that one’s faith is genuine.
3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
If a person remains unwilling to obey Christ, he provides evidence that his “faith” is in name only.
4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
A person may claim Jesus as Savior and pretend to obey for a while, but, if there is no heart change, his true nature will eventually manifest itself. This was the case for Judas Iscariot.
9) Genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they will continue in the faith.
9) Genuine believers may stumble and fall, but they will continue in the faith.
8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This was the case for Simon Peter in his denial.
A “believer” who completely turns away from the Lord plainly shows that he was never born again to begin with.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
A person who has been delivered from sin by faith in Christ should not desire to remain in a life of unrepentant sin.
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
Of course, spiritual growth can occur quickly or slowly, depending on the person and his circumstances. And the changes may not be evident to everyone at first.
Ultimately, God knows who are His sheep, and He will mature each of us according to His perfect time table.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Is it possible to be a Christian and live in lifelong carnality, enjoying the pleasures of sin, and never seeking to glorify the Lord who bought him?
Can a sinner spurn the lordship of Christ yet lay claim to Him as Savior?
Can someone pray a “sinner’s prayer” and go about his life as if nothing had happened and still call himself a “Christian”?
The doctrine of Lordship says “no.” Let us not give unrepentant sinners false hope; rather, let us declare the whole counsel of God:
John 3:7 (NKJV)
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’